Teaching & Research

The Carnegie Foundation classifies Tufts University among the top-tier United States research institutions in higher education. Every year, Tufts faculty and students undertake more than 500 innovative research projects on Tufts’ four campuses in the United States and Europe. Tufts researchers collaborate with colleagues in medicine, public health, engineering, nutrition, dentistry, veterinary medicine, international relations, and the physical, biological and social sciences in dozens of countries.

Federal funding for Tufts’ research projects annually totals about $160 million, including its affiliated hospitals. Benefiting from a prime location in America’s higher-education hub of greater Boston, Tufts’ undergraduate, graduate and professional schools deliver compelling research findings that shed light on the mysteries of life, the world around us, and some of the most complex human and health issues.

Recently published Tufts studies have explained for the first time why fireflies flash, offered new evidence supporting cancer-fighting strategies, and provided fresh insights into how our galaxy formed and continues to evolve. Tufts faculty are leading world authorities on antibiotic resistance, HIV and Lyme disease, cholera and other pressing health issues. Our nutrition researchers, working in the world’s largest research institute devoted to nutrition and aging, are recognized by their peers nationally and internationally for their contributions to research and public policy.

According to the Institute of Scientific Information, Tufts ranked No. 1 in the U.S. (from 1996-2000) for the impact of its research in public health and health care sciences. With ramifications for patients and the nation’s entire healthcare system, this research is enormously complex. Tufts researchers have examined a number of critical issues, studying whether health care is better in certain medical settings, if certain procedures or treatments improve outcomes, if individual health results are better if treatment is undertaken by one medical specialist over another, and so on.

According to an exclusive 2001 international survey published by Great Britain’s Guardian newspaper, “Tufts University tops the world rankings” for the global impact of its social science research, beating out institutions from the U.K., Germany, Canada, and peer institutions across the United States. The Guardian reported that Tufts’ social science research findings-ranging from medicine and nutrition to philosophy, political science, child development and community health issues-are among the most frequently cited in academic journals.

More than 1,500 undergraduate and graduate students work alongside Tufts faculty and researchers every day in more than 200 University labs, hospitals, environmental cleanup sites and community-based programs. This research often results in public policy changes in the U.S. and in other countries.